Will there be love?
by therightime
Summary: The girls don't know how much they need each other until traumatic circumstances arise. What happens after Jane shoots Paddy Doyle. Can they remain friends?
1. Chapter 1

It had been two weeks since Jane had pulled the trigger and watched as the pain flooded the eyes of her best friend Maura. It had been a rough two weeks. Jane wished with all her heart she could turn back time and change the fortune of that night. But it was over now and so was her friendship with Dr. Isles. There were no longer scientific explanations interrupting her conversations, which to her surprise Jane missed dearly. The truth is Maura hadn't spoken one word to Jane since she screamed "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM" to the brunette. Maura had understandably been absent from work for the first week following the incident, after all its not every day you watch your best friend shoot and Kill your mobster birth father. When Dr. Isles returned to work the second week Jane eagerly tried to welcome her back but was greeted with the cold shoulder in return. If there was work related business to talk about Maura simply found Detective Frost as a means of avoiding any contact with Jane. Jane was devastated she never meant to hurt her best friend in fact she only took the shot in attempt to protect Maura. It was pure instinct, she was in full detective mode and she did what she had to do. Any good cop would have done the same thing. On the other hand she could not blame Maura for being so upset she knew if the tables were turned she would not be quick to forgive. It was a sticky situation no one was in the wrong but everyone was hurting.

The days passed slowly and Jane was getting more and more worried that she would never regain the trust and friendship of the medical examiner. It definitely started to affect her work. She could not focus, she was always feeling guilty and heartbroken at the same time. Thank goodness for her little brother Frankie. She used to be annoyed by him always lurking around trying to make detective with Jane as a mentor. But these days he was her only comfort. He made her feel loved, made her feel like someone in the room would take her side no matter what. "Hey Jane I'm headed out, you wanna grab a beer wit me." Called Frankie from the doorway. "Thanks Frankie but I think I'm just gonna to call it a night." Replied Jane in a deflated voice. She walked home that night finding the cool air soothing across her face. She couldn't stop thinking about the strawberry blond Dr. and the way they just clicked. Friendship had always been easy for them. They didn't really have much in common but some how it worked. They had a special bond, one that Jane had never had with any other friend in her life. She knew she had to give Maura time. Time to cool off, time to morn. But how much longer was it going to take? Jane couldn't stand it anymore. She was missing Maura like crazy and more then anything she just wanted to know that the Dr. would be okay. Once she arrived back to her apartment Jane sat on the couch drinking a cold beer staring at a blank TV screen. She tryed to keep her mind off the situation. Okay Jane name all fifty states in alphabetical order she thought to herself. "Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado... no wait California". Suddenly a knock came on the door. "What? Ma I'm fine I just... Oh hey Maur." Maura stood there in the door way with tears streaming down checks. She was in Jeans. Jeans with a hole in the knee. The woman who spends $1000 on designer heals was standing there, red faced, in Jeans. "Oh Maur Sweetie come in, come in" Jane whispered in the most soothing voice she could muster. The two beautiful women sat there on the couch not saying anything for several intense minutes. When finally Maura spoke up. It was the first Jane had heard of that golden voice in 17 days and 6 hours, as if anyone had been counting.

Maura: "Jane I'm so sorry"

Jane: "No no don't be sorry you have every right to be mad at me"

Maura: "No I really don't. You did what you had to do Jane. I know you were trying to protect me and I know my father was not a good man, but he was my own blood." "I'm so mad Jane. But the truth is I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at what happened. I'm mad that my father never told me who my real mother was. I'm mad that I genetically match DNA with a known mass murder. I'm mad that he came into my life wanting me to accept him and allow him to be my dad after being absent my entire life. I'm mad that he is gone and I'll never have the chance to let him explain himself to me. I'm mad Jane, in fact I've never been so mad in my life. But I'm not mad at you. I can't be mad at you, the truth is you are the one person who I'm not mad at. I never should have treated you the awful way that I did, you don't deserve that. I'm even mad at myself. Mad for making you take on the burden of guilt. I can't keep going through all this without my best friend. I need you Jane"

Jane leaned over and wrapped Maura in an emotional embrace. "Shh Maura you have me. I'm right here and I always will be. Please don't be mad at yourself. I can't imagine the pain you are in and I can't fix it. All I can do is be here with you, cry with you and go through this with you." It was the best thing Jane could have said. Maura didn't want to hear that it was going to be okay, how could it be, her dad was dead. She didn't want to hear that Jane knew how she felt or that she could fix it. Maura just needed someone by her side. She was tired of trying to get through this all alone.

They weep together in an embrace for a long time both needing to be near the other. Jane was the first to break the hug pulling back to look Maura in the eye. As she wiped the tears from Maura's splotchy face they shared more with their eyes then they could have with 1000 words. And there it was, that instant connection that special bond. Back like it had never left.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Writing is by no means my specialty so I apologize for the imperfection. I'm having fun being on the authors side of fan fic for the first time so as long as you guys are enjoying it I keep writing it. Thanks for taking the time to read and review. **

As summer approached life started getting back to routine for the girls. Thank goodness for routine it was the only way Maura knew how to cope. With so many things changing in her life, finding out who her birth father was, then losing him with still so many unanswered questions, Maura found the need to keep the rest of her life controlled by routine. She was so grateful that Jane was back as part of her routine. The two weeks they had been apart had been hell. But things were getting back to normal, well as normal as they can for a BPD homicide Detective and Medical Examiner.

The pair were out on their usual saturday morning run. Jane's whining about not wanting to go another mile was interrupted by the dual ringing of cell phones. Jane and Maura both reached for their phones answering by last name.

"Rizzoli"

"Isles"

"Okay I'm on my way".

If there were a medal for synchronized phone answering these two would have just won gold.

They had been called in. There was a body found floating in the river by a duck tours tourist boat. Details of the death were still unknown but what was known is that they would spend the rest of the weekend as Detective Rizzoli and Dr. Isles instead of simply Jane and Maura like they had both been looking forward to.

Jane walked into the morgue where Maura was hunched over the bloated gray body.

"God he doen't even look human. Drowning victims are always so creepy. Good thing Frost isn't down here, or we'd have to find you a mop."

Maura gave a light chuckle at Jane's attempt to lighten the mood before declaring. "He's not a drowning victim."

"Maura, of course he is." "Look at him, paint him yellow and he'd be King Kong's rubber ducky."

"You are assuming Jane. Cause of death occurred before this man ever hit the water."

Jane replied with a drawn out "And the cause of death would be...?"

"Cerebral death by way of Ocular Enucleation**"**

"Occupy inception, what now?" A confused Jane Replied.

"Brain death from a screwdriver through the eye socket." Maura stated matter of factly.

"so you're tellin me either this guy did something to really piss someone off. Or we have a psychopath lose in Boston."

"I'm afraid so Jane."

Great this is just the kind of news I wanted today." Came Jane's sarcastic reply.

After taking a second to calm down a bit Jane placed a appreciative hand on Maura's forearm.

"Alright thanks Maur, I'll go fill in Frost, see what we can find. Let me know if you came across anything else."

Maura replied with an understanding head nod.

This was not going to be a good day. Jane hated that they had no other clues as to what might have happened to the poor guy laying on Maura's autopsy table. Her only comfort was the fact that Maura was the best Medical Examiner out there and she was bound to find more evidence by the time she finished the autopsy.

Jane, Frost and Korsak worked every angle they could think of but had no luck. They interviewed ever tourist that had been on the boat that found the body. No one knew anything. After spending the weekend with dead end after dead end there was nothing more Jane could do other then go home and wait for some kind of new evidence to surface. She was at her wits end so stressed that she couldn't catch a break on this case. This type of situation always put Jane in a awful mood that only a good Red Sox game could fix. She sat down with her cure all pizza and beer to watch the Sox kick the crap out of the Orioles. She felt her phone vibrate it was a text from Maura.

"I finished with the autopsy. No news yet but I'm still waiting for some lab tests. They should be in by the morning."

A deflated Jane answered "Well I guess all we can do is wait. Why don't you come over. I have plenty of pizza."

"I don't know, are you gonna make me watch a baseball game?"

"Oh come on Maur, you love watching me watch baseball ;)"

"Alright, Alright I'll come, but only if you have wine."

"I do have wine, only because you left it here, but none the less there is wine."

"Okay then, I'll be right over"

Jane put down the phone and noticed she had a smile from ear to ear on her face. She began to realize maybe the Red sox weren't the only way to cure her mood. In fact the Sox came in second place to the best mood cure ever, that cure was Maura.

It wan't long before Jane was opening the door to the grinning face of Maura. Both girls had been unusually excited to spend a night in together. Oddly enough Jane had been a little nervous waiting for Maura to arive. She couldn't explain why, but she had butterflies in her stomach. Jane and Maura had eaten pizza and watched hundreds of baseball games together before but Jane had never been nervous about it. This was a new feeling and she wondered if Maura felt it also.

As the game crept into the eighth the girls found themselves sitting right next to each other. Legs touching from hip to knee and Maura's head leaning on Jane's shoulder. Jane could not explain how they ended up like this, when the game started they had been a whole couch cushion apart. But she could not have been happier about their current position. She couldn't describe how good it felt to be this close to Maura. What was this new feeling? She had never longed to share this close of contact with her BFF before. But she knew after this they were going to need to have pizza and baseball night a lot more often.

The game had long sense ended and Jane had turned off the TV. But neither Maura or Jane had been able to pull them selves apart. They just sat there enjoying the moment until Maura tilted her head to look up at Jane. Jane returned the gaze and they locked eyes when Maura breathed a soft "Thank you Jane."

"Thank me for what?"

"You promised me you would be here for me and you have. So thank you. I really needed this tonight. I needed to get my mind off the case and off the bad parts of my life. Thanks to you tonight was perfect."

"Awe Maur, of course. You know, tonight wasn't all about me being here for you, I needed this too. You know how stressed I get when a case is cold. With you here by my side I can relax and be sure it's gonna all work out. I know you are going to find evidence to crack this whole thing open. So I should be the one saying thank you to you."

Maura returned a soft smile. "Its us together Jane, we are going to solve this case together. Because you are the best detective in Boston. But for now let's just get some rest."

Jane leaned her forehead against Maura's "Yeah, I am extremely tired. Why don't you spend the night. You can sleep in my room i'll sleep here on the couch."

"Oh come on Jane, your bed is plenty big enough for two. We can share the bed. I don't snore."

With that they retired for the night. Hoping the mornings test results would bring good news.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Thanks for fallowing the story. Make sure to let me know if you like where this is headed. I have a pretty good idea of where the story will go. I just don't know how long it will take to get there. But lets find out together shall we? Haha. Thanks for reading.**

Jane woke up to find Maura had already gone. Maura had left a note explaining she needed to go to her own home to get clean clothes before meeting Jane back at the station. After all she knew they were going to have a long day ahead of them and she would go crazy if she wasn't in the comfort of her own clothing. Jane wasn't at all surprised by this, knowing how particular the honey blond was about her appearance. She was however a bit disappointed and found it strange that she felt a little empty at the absence of her favorite Doctor. Jane quickly showered, got dressed and ran out the door, forgoing breakfast altogether. She was too anxious to eat. She needed to know what news the lab results would bring. The case had been making Jane very uneasy. She couldn't shake the feeling that this thing went much deeper then one mans death. All she could do is pray they would find evidence that proved other wise.

Korsak and Frost were both already at their desks. As it turns out Jane wasn't the only detective desperate to get to the bottom of the violent murder. Jane sat down next to Frosts desk and the two conversed about how frustrating it was that they didn't even have a name for the victim.

"Frost it's been 48 hours. You would think someone would have reported him missing by now. I mean he had a wedding ring on. That means he has a concerned wife out there somewhere, right?"

"Yeah unless she's the one that did it." Frost stated accusingly.

Korsak chimed in. "I don't know Frost. He was a pretty big guy. I don't know of any ladies that would have been capable of dumping a body that size. Not by themselves anyway."

"So you think this was a team effort?" Frost questioned.

"Guys come on. We're grasping at straws here. We can speculate all day long but its not going to get us anywhere. We need a name. We need some kind of concrete proof."

As if on cue Dr. Isles burst through the door. "Jane I think I have something. It's not much but it should give you somewhere to start."

"At this point we'll take anything we can get. This will be our first real lead. What have you got Maur."

"I found a rock wedged in the sole of our John doe's shoe. I had the lab run a series of tests and as I suspected the rock is Granite"

Maura's comment earned a very sarcastic reply from Jane. "Well you're right about one thing Maur. Its not much."

"No Jane, let me finish there's more. The unique density of this particular Granite is consistent with the Granite found at the Halibut Point Granite rock quarry." Maura then started into an in depth scientific explanation.  
"The town of Rockport and it's rocky coastline was shaped by the last ice age. The bedrock there is faulted intrusive rock from the Paleozoic period. You see intrusive rock is formed by the crystallization of magma, the slow cooling of the magma 15,000 years ago caused crystals to grow slowly into massive granite slabs. Therefore the unique density of this granite was perfect for quarrying. Hence Halibut Point was Massachusetts largest rock quarry from about 1840 - 1929. It's no longer used as a quarry and now serves mainly as one of Massachusetts most scenic state parks."

Jane's mouth hung open while she listened to Maura delve into the details of how Granite is formed. "Woah Maura, while I'm extremely impressed that you just happen to know all of that, I still don't understand how this gets us any closer to finding out who this guy is."

"Well Jane, Halibut Point is located right on the coast in Rockport Massachusetts. Based on the rock I round in his shoe I think John Doe was in Rockport the day he was murdered. I think the murder took place in Rockport and the body was dumped at Halibut Point."

"Maura it sounds like to me that you are guessing here. And if there is one thing I know about you, it's that you don't do "guessing."" Jane teased.

"It's not a guess Jane. Its an educated hypothesis. Rockport is roughly 30 miles from the Boston Harbor where our body was found. By my calculations it would take the ocean current two days to carry a body that far. The amount of saltwater the body has absorbed would indicate he spent roughly 48 hours in the water. It all adds up Jane. I think it is a fairly accurate hypothesis."

"Damn Maura you really are a genius aren't you."

Jane was dumbfounded at Maura's wits. The amount of detail she could draw from a tiny rock was incredible. Jane was increasingly proud to have someone with Maura's intelligence on the BPD force. But she was even more proud to call Maura her best friend. Day by day Jane found herself admiring Maura more and more. She felt a powerful urge to jump up and wrap Maura in a tight embrace to thank her for her good work. But with Frost and Korsak in the room she felt the responsibility to remain professional.

Jane's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Korsak's voice. "Well I will admit that all kind of went over my head. But I trust you Doc. Come on Frost, Jane, Let's go out there and check it out. See if we can find anyone who might have seen something."

As Frost and Korsak headed out Jane hung back for a second to say thank you to Maura. "Maura that was incredible. Really. You always surprise me with that brain of yours."

"Its nothing Jane, just simple geology."

Jane let out a slight chuckle. "Simple for you maybe, not for us normal people."

A smile spread across Maura's face as her checks began to blush.

"I better go they are going to be waiting for me." Jane remarked as she brushed passed Maura towards the door.

"Jane wait." Maura grabbed Jane's elbow and declared with panic in her eyes. "Please be careful."

Jane turned and looked at Maura she could see fear behind her eyes. This tugged at Jane's heart. She knew it was hard for Maura to watch her go out in the field never knowing what kind of danger she could be walking into. If their roles had been reversed Jane would drive herself crazy with worry waiting for Maura to walk back in the door.

Jane reached out and gently tucked a strand of hair behind Maura's ear before resting her hand on her shoulder. "I'll be fine a promise. We are just going to go ask some questions. I'll call as soon as we are on our way back. Okay?" Maura gave a light nod. Then Jane leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Maura's forehead and with that she turned and walked out the door.

While Maura had wished the kiss had happened under different circumstances than in the mists of a murder investigation she couldn't help the rush of delight she had felt from the interaction. At that point Maura made a mental note to ensure that this wasn't the last time she would receive that type of contact from one detective Jane Rizzoli.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N This chapter is a little light on the Rizziles fluff and heavy on plot. But hang in there the next chapter will be the opposite. ;) **

Jane, Frost and Korsak had been on the road for about 30 min. they were almost to Rockport. Jane had spend most of the ride thinking about Maura, something she had found herself doing a lot lately. Boston homicide's Chief medical examiner was a rare breed thats for sure and Jane was completely enthralled by her. She had only recently been able to admit that to herself. But it was a true and there was no point in denying it. Jane had surrendered to the fact that she had feelings for her best friend.

Jane's thoughts were interrupted by Frost who had been the designated navigator. "This is the exit coming up in a half mile."

They arrived to Halibut Point State Park and followed the signs to visitor parking. They all took a second to stretch out as they got out of the car.

"So where do we start?" Frost asked.

Korsak pointed to the left "Sign says visitors center this way. Bet there's somebody there we could talk to."

The three detectives started down a pathway covered with wood chips. The ground felt spongy under their feet. It had lightly rained that morning causing the wood chips to swell a bit and put a spring in every step. The pathway was lined with trees and the air was damp making them feel like they were truly in the jungle. After about 150 yards the trees opened up to reveal a tall but skinny building about 5 stories high. Beyond the building approximately 100 yards in each direction lay the coast line. Enormous Granite rocks lined the water.

It put a smile on Jane's face to see the very giant rocks, that along with Maura's giant brain, had lead them here. It was a beautiful view and even on a cloudy day Jane found this place to be enchanting. There was a sign by the door that read Visitors Center. All three detectives walked through the door. It was small inside only about a 30 ft square room. Immediately to their left was a reception window. The window was open and behind the half wall sat a sweet looking woman who must have been about 70. Jane noticed her name tag read Nancy. Nancy greeted her three visitors with a warm welcome.

"How are you folks doing this beautiful day?"

Jane had taken a liking to Nancy already she was very sweet and reminded Jane of her own grandmother.

"We're hangin in there Nancy, and how are you doing?"

"Oh I'm doin fine. Is this your first time visiting Halibut Point?"

"Yes, I believe this is the first time that any of us have been here." Jane replied with a smile.

"Well feel free to have a look around. We've got some brochures. Oh, and I can put on a short video for you that tells about the history of the old rock quarry that used to be here up to 1929." Nancy exclaimed excitedly.

Jane got the feeling not many people actually came into the visitors center and Nancy seemed happy to have some company.

"Thank you we appreciate the offer Nancy. But actually we are here from the Boston Police Department. We were hoping we could ask you a few questions if thats alright with you?"

"Oh dear has something happened?"

"Every thing's fine we are just here following up a lead." Jane exclaimed in a comforting voice. "By the way my name is Detective Rizzoli, and these are my partners Detective Frost and Detective Korsak."

Korsak gave a polite nod and Frost chimed in. "It's nice to meet you Nancy."

Not wasting any time Jane jumped right in with the questions. "Have you noticed any unusual activity here at Halibut in the last few days? Any unusual people coming or going."

Nancy thought for a moment before answering "I don't really think so, things have been pretty normal I'd say. People come and go throughout the day mostly tourists or families on a day out from the city. Seems like the only locals who ever come out here are the people in the painting classes."

"Painting classes?" Korsak repeated.

"Oh yes. Carol teaches a painting class in town. She always brings them out here on Thursdays to paint the landscape. It's a beautiful..."

Nancy stopped mid sentence they could tell by the look on her face that something had just dawned on her.

Nancy spoke up again. "Thomas, my grounds keeper, he hasn't shown up for work since Wednesday night. I didn't think anything of it until now. He only works part time and he had the day off on thursday and Saturday. When he hadn't shown up on Friday I just assumed he had been sick."

"Is this about Thomas? Has something happened to Thomas?"

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Jane, Frost and Korsak all had a feeling they were about to break some really bad news to Nancy.

Jane pulled a photograph from her pocket as she looked at the photo her expression turned to sadness. "Nancy I'm afraid we are here because over the weekend a body was found floating in the harbor. We estimate the body entered the water near here sometime between 9:00pm Wednesday night and 5:00am thursday morning. We haven't been able to identify him yet."

"I have a picture of him."

Jane hesitated and said "I apologize Nancy, this is a disturbing image, but it is very important that we identify this man."

Nancy's face went pale knowing what she needed to do. She hesitantly nodded her head in response. It was her way of giving Jane permission to show her the photo. Jane flipped the picture around pointing it towards Nancy. Nancy adjusted her glasses and leaned in to get a close look.

She squinted her eyes and whispered to herself. "Oh dear Lord. Thomas. Oh no, no, poor Thomas."

Nancy got very emotional and with watery eyes she explained. "He is hardly recognizable. But thats definitely him. You see that emblem on his Jacket? MDHA? That stands for Massachusetts Duck Hunters Association. He was a member. He wore that Jacket just about every day."

Jane placed a comforting hand over Nancy's. " Nancy we're so sorry to have brought you this news. We promise we are doing everything we can to figure out how this happened to Thomas. What was his last name?"

"Richards. His name was Thomas Richards."

Korsak gently asked another question. "We noticed Thomas was waring a wedding ring. Does his wife live near by?"

"Oh dear I'm afraid not. Pour Sarah passed away in a car accident two years ago. Thomas didn't really have any family other then her. He has been a pretty lonely man ever since loosing Sarah. He worked part time here and spent just about all of his free time out hunting or fishing."

Nancy had a glazed over look in her eyes she was obviously very socked by this news.

"Do you think he fell of his fishing boat or something?"

"We can't be sure of anything at this point. Do you mind if we have a look around for a minute?" Frost asked.

"Of course." Nancy said.

Frost, Korsak and Jane perused the visitors center. It turns out this building had been used as a watch tower during world war two. There were military uniforms and other artifacts on display accompanied by a plaque telling the history of each piece. At the back of the building there was a tiny nearly vertical stair case. At the top was a narrow trapdoor like opening that lead into the next level. They climbed up all five stories. With Korsak grumbling the entire way. "I'm too old for this shit." He exclamed.

Each level was smaller then the previous and by the time they reached the top level it was a tiny room. No bigger then 10ft by 10ft. It was an empty room with solid concrete walls except for thin horizontal windows at eye level lined each wall.

"They must have used this tower for snipers during the war." Claimed Korsak.

They could see out across all of Halibut Point. It was the perfect birds nest view of everything that was going on around the Park.

"Jane look at this" said Frost.

Jane looked down to where Frost had been pointing and saw what Maura would describe as a redish brown stain. Jane however didn't need any lab tests or proof to know that it was blood.

"Frost our cause of death was brain hemorrhage as the result of a sharp object, presumably a screwdriver, stabbed through the eye. Do you think this could have been the original place of death?"

"It's certainly possible Jane. Thats about the right amount of blood splater for that type of injury." Answered Frost.

"Kosak bent down and pulled out a pocket knife. He scraped at the stain and put the blood covered dust into a plastic bag. "We'll take this to Dr. Isles. See if she can pull some DNA and match it to Thomas Richards."

They climbed back down the five flights of stairs. Jane made sure to thank Nancy for her help.

"Nancy Thank you for everything. Your information has been extremely helpful. Will you please give us a call if you think of anything you think might be useful? I mean anything at all you just call this number." Jane stated as she handed over her business card.

They had finally caught a break. They now had some cold hard facts. They had a name for their victim, and a very likely place of still didn't have a suspect or motive. But they were however hopeful and pleased at their findings as they headed back to the station finally landing a small victory in the case.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

True to her word Jane called Maura on her way back to the station.

"Hey Maur, its me. We're on our way back now."

"Oh good. Did you find anything?"

"We got a name believe it or not. Turns out he was a part time grounds keeper at the Halibut Point visitors center. His name was Thomas Richards."

"Well that is wonderful progress. Good work Jane."

"Yeah I got a feeling we are going to start making some headway now."

Suddenly Maura heard rustling on the other end of the phone fallowed by Jane's frustrated voice. "Korsak slow down you're going to miss the turn."

"Sorry Maur I gotta go Korsak is going to get us lost. We'll talk when I get back."

When they arrived back at the station Jane headed down to deliver the blood sample to Maura.

"Hey Maura I'm back in one piece." Said Jane as she entered Maura's office.

"And I am relieved, if not happy to see you Jane." Maura smiled.

"Well I'm happy to see you to Maura. Cause I've got some evidence I need you to run some test on."

"Oh, and is that all I am to you Jane, just some lab geek to run all of your tests for you?" Maura teased.

"Yeah you're a lab geek, but you're my favorite lab geek." Jane countered.

"I better be your favorite." Maura's playful tone gave Jane butterflies in her stomach.

"So what's the evidence you brought me?"

"At the risk of you getting mad at me for guessing... I think its blood. I'm hoping you can extract DNA and see if it's a match to Thomas."

"Alright hand it over. Lets find out if science agrees with your gut."

Maura was able to quickly confirm it was indeed blood. The DNA extraction however would take much longer.

Maura submitted the sample to the lab and explained to Jane they had several hours to kill while they waited for the results.

Jane saw this as an opportunity to get out of the office for a while.

"While we wait, why don't we head over to the Robber and you can let me buy you dinner."

"Okay I would love to. Let me grab my jacket." Maura turned to gather her things then whipped back around and walked back towards Jane. Upon reaching Jane's side she looped her arm through Jane's and with adorable smiles on both girls faces they walked out arm in arm.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Sorry it took a while for me to update, I was out of town on a glorious vacation. Thanks for being patient and thanks for reading.**

The Dirty Robber was one of the girls favorite places. They often went there for dinner or drinks after work. It gave them the perfect atmosphere to decompress and get away from the heavy burden both of their careers brought with them. Violence death and murder were not easy job stresses to brush off. Jane truly appreciated that when she spent time alone with Maura she was able to put work aside and live in the moment. Being a homicide detective had taught her the importance of living in the moment, because you never know just how many moments you will be blessed with in this life. Now that Jane had finally accepted her feelings for Maura she felt compelled never to miss an opportunity to experience happy moments with her truest friend.

As they arrived at the Robber Jane instinctually held the door open for Maura. In Jane's mind it was the only way to treat a lady as classy as Dr. Isles. And being someone who enjoyed the finer things in life Maura was grateful for Jane's attentiveness. They sat down in their regular both and without even needing an order the waitress knew to bring them their usual drinks. A cold beer in the bottle for Jane and a and a glass of Pinot for Maura. As she set the drinks down in front of them the waitress asked.

"Are you ladies going to be having dinner tonight or just the drinks?"

"Dinner please." Jane enthusiastically replied.

"I'll have the bacon cheeseburger with extra bacon."

Maura responded to Jane's unhealthy order with a "you better not" expression on her face.

"What I'm hungry." Jane expressed in a squeaky voice.

"Fine." Maura backed down. "I'll have the same. And throw in a side of fries."

The waitress acknowledged their orders "Comin right up." And headed back into the kitchen.

"Maura!" Jane exclaimed with shock. "You ordered fries?"

"Well if you can't beat them join them. Isn't that what they say?"

"Ooo I like the adventurous Maura." Jane cooed.

"I don't think ordering a cheeseburger counts as being adventurous. And besides we both know you are going to end up stealing all my fries anyways." Replied Maura.

Jane's face quickly rolled through the expressions of shocked offense to defeated acceptance. As she acknowledged the truthfulness of Maura's comment. Nodding her head she muttered "Well... when your right your right."

Both girls laughed.

While they waited for their food they chatted about Jane's trip to Rockport.

"So what happened out there? How did you get that blood sample? Questioned Maura.

Jane explained the events of their outing. She told her about Nancy and how Thomas had been a grounds keeper at the Halibut Point visitors center.

"I felt so bad Maura. Nancy was devastated by the news of Thomas' death. She was a such a sweet lady and very helpful. I only wish we could have met her under different circumstances."

Not many people ever witnessed Jane's sensitive side showing through but it was something she never tried to hide from Maura. It was a personality trait of Jane's that Maura found endearing. When one looked passed Jane's rough exterior they would see she had a very big heart and incredible capacity to love.

Maura reached across the table and placed a comforting hand over Jane's. "Well I'm glad Nancy had you there with her when she received the news Jane. Hearing tragic news is never easy but you always handle the situation with such grace and empathy. I've seen you with family and friends of victims before and I know they truly appreciate your sincerity. "

Jane's face softened. "Thanks Maur. That means a lot." Being the bearer of bad news had always been the worst part of Jane's job and she often worried she wasn't any good at it. She tried very hard to always be compassionate to grieving families of victims and knowing Maura thought her efforts were appreciated brought Jane comfort.

As their food arrived the mood lightened and the topic of the case was put on hold for a while. They were able relax and enjoy their time together. Sure enough Jane did end up stealing most of the fries right off Maura's plate. As she snuck in to steal yet another fri Maura slapped her hand away starting some playful banter. "Jane stop eating off my plate, it's so barbaric."

"Really Maur? Barbaric? You think me eating off your plate makes me a Barbarian?"

"Well maybe barbaric is a little extreme. I don't think you are a Barbarian Jane, just a pain in the ass." Maura exclaimed with a proud grin. It wasn't often she got in a good dig on Jane. Jane was usually the one doing all the teasing.

Jane burst out laughing. She loved it when Maura loosened up and joked around with her. "Touché Maur. You got me there."

When the two had finished eating Jane excused herself to the restroom. While Maura waited the waitress came by to clear their plates.

"Would you like anything else to drink tonight?" She asked Maura.

"No I'm fine, thank you." A gracious Maura replied.

"And how about your girlfriend? Would she like another beer?" The waitress asked again.

Girlfriend? Maura thought. She then realized that throughout all the times she and Jane had come to the Robber together the waitress had always assumed they were girlfriends. Maura was a little taken aback by the comment but after thinking about it she choose not to correct her.

"No. My girlfriend and I will need to be going soon but thank you." Maura replied.

"Of course, your welcome. You two have a lovely night." Said the waitress as she turned and walked away leaving Maura siting there with a smile on her face.

Girlfriends. Maura liked the sound of that. She chose not to share the waitress' error with Jane. By keeping it to herself she could go on pretending it was in fact true, rather then an error.


End file.
